Stewart-Haas has a new NASCAR Xfinity driver to replace Chase Briscoe in the No. 98
Stewart-Haas Racing announced Thursday that Riley Herbst will drive the No. 98 Ford Mustang in the NASCAR Xfinity Series next season, taking over for Chase Briscoe.
The team also announced that Monster Energy, a longtime partner of Herbst, will serve as the car’s primary sponsor in 2021. The energy drink company sponsored a majority of Herbst’s 33-race Xfinity schedule with Joe Gibbs Racing in the No. 18 Toyota Supra this year.
Herbst closed the season — his first full-time season in the series — with four top-fives and 17 top-10 finishes to secure a place in the playoffs. He was eliminated in the first round, which features 12 drivers. His best finishes of the year came at Fontana and Kentucky (both second place).
The 21-year-old driver from Las Vegas will work with crew chief Richard Boswell next season. Boswell has remained with the No. 98 team since its inception in 2017 and helped Briscoe secure a series-best nine wins and an Xfinity Championship 4 bid in 2020. Briscoe will graduate to the Cup Series next season to pilot the No. 14 for SHR in place of Clint Bowyer, who is retiring from racing for NASCAR broadcasting duties with Fox Sports.
Herbst joins a competitive lineup for Stewart-Haas Racing — one that includes regular season Cup champion Kevin Harvick (nine Cup wins in 2020), Aric Almirola (six top-fives, 18 top-10s), Cole Custer (Cup Rookie of the Year) and Briscoe.
SHR’s vice president of competition Greg Zipadelli said in a team release that Herbst “has really just scratched the surface of his potential.” He said Herbst reminds the organization of Custer and Briscoe, two drivers who he said “came up to SHR’s Xfinity Series program with plenty of potential who then realized that potential ...”
“Riley has the talent to emulate what Cole and Chase did in our equipment,” Zipadelli said. “And we’re going into 2021 with the expectation that we’ll celebrate his first Xfinity Series win together.”
Xfinity competition is expected to be fierce next season with series champion Austin Cindric returning to his ride with Team Penske and other final four contenders Justin Allgaier and Justin Haley returning to their respective teams. Former Cup driver A.J. Allmendinger also announced his return to Kaulig Racing, and said he will run a full schedule in 2021. Daniel Hemric will replace Herbst as the driver of the No. 18 for JGR.
“Being on a team with such a strong run of success is the kind of opportunity every driver wants,” Herbst said in a team release. “Expectations are definitely high, but the highest expectations are the ones I’ve set for myself. I’m proud to be a part of Stewart-Haas Racing and I can’t wait to climb into that No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang next year.”
This story was originally published December 10, 2020 at 12:00 AM.
